AnimeNation Anime News Blog

The official Pretty Cure movie homepage has updated with the announcement that the Fresh Precure! Omocha no Kuni wa Himitsu ga Ippai!? (Fresh Precure! Big Secret of the Toy Kingdom) movie will open theatrically on October 31st. This film will be the seventh Pretty Cure series movie. The first two Pretty Cure motion pictures were based on the franchise’s second television series. The third, fourth, and fifth Pretty Cure TV series have had one theatrical feature each. The sixth and most recent Pretty Cure motion picture from earlier this year included characters from all five prior television series.

Source: Moon Phase

Digital Manga now hosts a selection of sample pages from its upcoming English translation of the late Kaoru Tada’s modern classic shoujo manga Itazura na Kiss. The first translated manga volume will retail at $16.95 beginning November 4th.

Article provided by Daniel Zelter

Japan’s proposed national anime museum, literally the “National Media Arts Center,” has been the center of political debate for weeks. Now Japanese animators themselves are taking sides in the discussion. Animation industry proponents including Gonzo producer Junichi Takagi, Kyoto Seika University professor Nobuyuki Tsugata, and underpaid rank & file animators are arguing that if the Japanese government has the money to build and operate a national anime museum, it should instead contribute that money directly to the existing anime production industry to offset the industry’s declining capital and subsidize low animator wages.

Veteran character designer and manga artist Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Arion, Venus Wars) opposes increased governmental involvement with anime saying, “Anime has the vitality of a weed. I want it to be left alone. And with government support, I worry about potential restrictions being placed on freedom of expression.”

On the opposite side, manga creator Machiko Satonaka makes the important point that a specialized museum is, “urgently needed to preserve and restore our valuable original manga drawings from continuing degradation.”

I knew there was a reason I’ve always liked “Yas.”

Source: Anime News Network

Twitch is presently the exclusive online source for the extended and exceptional non-work safe trailer for Noboru Iguchi (Machine Girl) and Yoshihiro Nishimura’s (Tokyo Gore Police) latest shock splatter action spectacle movie RoboGeisha.

Yes. I love these sort of crazy, over-the-top exploitation pictures.

Question:
was Hamlet ever turned into an anime in any way shape or form?

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Japanese publisher Kadokawa has added the first 8 episodes of the current Japanese Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya television series, with English subtitles, to its YouTube Channel. The first 7 episodes of the current Japanese series were initially broadcast in 2006 and are available on American DVD. However, episode 8 is the first “new” episode produced specifically for the 2009 broadcast. The English-subtitled episodes will be available until July 5.

Source: Anime News Network

Reportedly this week’s issue of Weekly Shonen Magazine will formally announce the development of an anime TV series based on Hiro Mashima’s fantasy adventure manga Fairy Tail. The anime will be produced by A-1 Pictures and Satelight. Mashima’s best selling Fairy Tail manga series is currently ongoing in Japan, and is published in English by Del Rey. Mashima’s previous manga series, Rave, was adapted into a 51 episode TV anime in 2001.

Didn’t I say a year or two ago that a Fairy Tail anime was just a matter of time?

Source: Anime News Network

Reportedly the August issue of Megami Magazine, which will go on sale in Japan this week, includes a confirmation that the cast and staff of the 2008 Kanokon television series will be reuniting for a sequel. The format of the new Kanokon anime – TV series, OVA, movie – has not been revealed yet.

Yipee!

Source: Anime News Network

Starchild’s official website for the Natsu no Arashi! anime series has announced plans for a second series. The show’s just aired 13th and final episode concluded with an illustration by original series creator Jin Kobayashi announcing “I’ll be back!” The second season will premiere this fall.

Source: Anime News Network

The homepage for the recently concluded Higashi no Eden ~ Eden of the East television series now launches with a streaming trailer for the upcoming two Higashi no Eden theatrical films. The trailer consists of footage from the TV series, some of which may constitute spoilers.

Still can’t tell if the first movie is going to be a recap or a continuation of the TV series.

Source: Anime News Network

Anime News Network has published its original review of Disney’s English dubbed version of Ponyo. The English langauge release of Studio Ghibli’s 2008 film will open in American theaters on August 14.

Based on this review, maybe the changes Disney had made to the original script for the American theatrical release aren’t as drastic as I feared. While I don’t think that Ponyo is a disappointment in any way, it does harken back to the tone of lighter Miyazaki films like Totoro, Porco Rosso, and Kiki’s Delivery Service rather than the director’s more recent trio of overtly socially conscious movies.

Question:
Is it really impossible to do a good anime adaptation of Blade of the Immortal? What does Blade have that works as a manga that just can’t make it as a manga in motion with sound? Isn’t the problem not that Blade can’t be adapted but that it was adapted poorly? It’s hard to believe that no amount of talent and budget can make a good Blade adaptation.

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The official homepage for the Spice & Wolf anime franchise is now streaming its second “Special Puppet PV” featuring voice actors Jun Fukuyama & Ami Koshimizu and their Lawrence & Holo hand puppets. Spice & Wolf II will premiere on July 8th.

The official Japanese Macross Frontier homepage has announced a second, previously unexpected Macross F feature film. The first film, Macross Frontier the Movie: The False Songstress, will open on November 21. The first movie will be a condensed version of the 2008 TV series featuring some exclusive new footage. The second film will be a new story, presumably consisting of entirely new animation. No specific details about the second film have been revealed yet.

Source: Anime News Network

ICv2 reports that domestic anime sales for first quarter 2009 were down 2% compared to first quarter 2008. First quarter 2008 sales were 11% lower than Q1 2007. And 2007′s $275-300 million in sales was 20% lower than 2006′s $400 million in total sales.

CEPro reports that domestic DVD sales across all genres during first quarter 2009 dropped 14% compared to the same period last year. Combined DVD, Blu-ray and digital distribution sales dropped 5% from first quarter 2008. Year-to-date digital distribution revenue alone, however, increased by 19% over 2008.

So this year’s declines in anime DVD sales aren’t as great as the average domestic sales decline, but that may be because anime DVD sales have already droped so precipitously in previous years. This suggests that either domestic anime sales declines are slowing, or that domestic anime sales have nearly reached bottom.